Let down by EI
Woman says help should be there for those trying to better themselves
An O’Leary woman says Canada’s Employment Insurance program has let her down. Dawn Nicholson was working as a casual employee when, in December, she decided she wanted to take adult upgrading. She opened an EI claim but continued to fill casual shifts with her employer while taking the upgrading she says she needs to move on to the next step in her employment journey.
“I was told, with that upgrading, I should qualify to get into college.”
She wants to enroll in the resident care worker program at Holland College in the fall. “Then I could make double what I’m making now to support my family,” said the 29- year- old mother of five. Nicholson completed her up- grading Feb. 24. Five days later, a Service Canada employee advised her that her EI claim had been denied.
“They denied my claim because, the way they see it, I could’ve stayed where I was at and kept working part- time,” she summarized.
“They’re saying I can’t get EI because I quit my job to go back to school, which is bogus, because I didn’t quit my job. I am still working for that employer.” She said she gets one to two shifts a week at Lady Slipper Villa.
“I waited two months for that approval, meanwhile paying for my own childcare, paying for my own travel, just barely making ends meet, so that I could better myself and really relying on this approval and back pay from EI, just to have them say, ‘ No, we’re not going to help you.’” Human Resources Skills Development Canada provided written responses to TC Media questions regarding Nicholson’s concerns.
The emailed responses included a list of programs available to the unemployed and underemployed, and a report on how government is making post- secondary education more affordable for students from low- and middle- income households.
To be eligible for EI benefits, in addition to having accumulated the required number of insurable hours of employment, an individual must: have lost their job through no fault of their own; have had seven consecutive days with no work and no earnings; be ready and capable of working; and be actively looking for work.
“My problem is, morally, the fact that someone who is trying so hard to better themselves has to fight so hard to do it,” Nicholson added.
“They’re always encouraging people to go back to school and better themselves, but, then, when someone wants to, they are like, ‘ No, we’re not helping you. You should be able to live off of two shifts a week,’” she paraphrased.
She was so frustrated about her claim’s denial that she momentarily reconsidered her decision to apply for the RCW program.
“I’m stuck. I can’t move forward at all, so I’m left working a minimum wage job, one to two days a week,” she complained.
She subsequently reported she is appealing the denial of her claim and plans to follow through with the RCW course application, although not knowing how she can afford it without EI assistance. “I want people to gather together and tell the government this system is broken, that people who need the help should not have to beg for it, should not need to be so down- and- out and discouraged.”